Police Union to Poll Members on Parks

In the latest escalation of its rhetoric against Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks, the police officers’ union Friday announced it will poll its members on whether they have confidence in his leadership.

The Police Protective League’s announcement came a week after Parks was reported to have told supporters he will seek a second term, and two weeks after a purportedly conciliatory meeting between the union and the chief called by Mayor James K. Hahn.

Union President Mitzi Grasso last week publicly called for Parks’ ouster, saying that he has resisted dealing with low morale among officers. She described the new poll as a no-confidence vote.

The union’s latest parry drew a counterattack from City Councilman Nate Holden, a Parks supporter, who called union efforts to blame the chief for rising crime and low morale “tantamount to mutiny.”

Deputy Chief Michael J. Bostic weighed in a few hours later, calling Parks “a reform chief.” He said he was “shocked, saddened and dismayed” by the union’s effort.

The barbs were exchanged in back-to-back news conferences:

Grasso spoke to about a dozen reporters at league headquarters early Friday morning. The same crews then trooped across downtown to City Hall, where Holden spoke, and later moved on to Parker Center for Bostic’s turn at the podium.

Police chiefs in Los Angeles serve five-year terms and can be reappointed once. Parks is reaching the end of his first term, and is expected to formally submit his request for reappointment in early February.

Hahn repeatedly has said he will decide on the reappointment of Parks based on his performance, not political pressure.

On Friday, Hahn spokeswoman Julie Wong called the union vote “a distraction that’s taking focus away from addressing public safety issues.”

Although the chief is appointed, not elected, the selection of the city’s chief--traditionally of high public interest in Los Angeles--already has the trappings of a full-fledged electoral campaign.

Supporters and detractors are lining up. The union has hired a large public relations firm, Weber/Shandwick, to help its cause. The firm, which does work for corporate clients such as Walt Disney Co., has helped frame a campaign geared toward broad public appeal.

Labor Issues Downplayed

Accordingly, union rhetoric of late has focused on community issues, rather than strict labor concerns. For example, although union leaders have been sharply critical of Parks’ discipline policies, Grasso downplayed that issue at Friday’s news conference, focusing instead on rising crime and allegations of unanswered 911 calls.

Parks’ supporters also have gotten in gear. Early in December, key figures in the black political community, including two members of Congress, urged the union to stop “bashing” the chief. High-ranking officers within the department have become increasingly willing to speak publicly on Parks’ behalf, praising him for implementing Christopher Commission reforms, and in particular for creating what they view as a groundbreaking discipline system.

The league has been at odds with Parks for years, criticizing his leadership as it battled him on such topics as police work schedules and discipline. More recently, the union slammed him in what it presented as a “report card” last month in which officers gave him poor ratings.

At her news conference Friday, Grasso spoke mostly in generalities, saying that Parks has mismanaged the department and its resources, and has been inflexible and resistant to outside suggestions.

“LAPD is increasingly dysfunctional. It is not providing the people of Los Angeles with services they are entitled to,” Grasso said.

But after Grasso further alleged that Parks had impaired public safety by taking officers from patrol to fill other posts, union officials offered few particulars. In fact, some said they were actually concerned about diminished numbers in special units.

Bostic said Parks has indeed attempted to strengthen patrol by taking several hundred officers from specialized units.

“You have a chief of police who has been asked to do one of the toughest jobs in LAPD history: Reform the LAPD. The Police Protective League has not joined in that effort,” Bostic said.

Holden called the union’s attacks “totally irresponsible,” and said the planned vote had a predetermined outcome. Referring to the recent meeting between Parks and Grasso brokered by the mayor, he said:

“They shook hands and said they would cooperate. This is the first sign of cooperation on behalf of the Police Protective League, and it’s a joke,” he said.

Reporters’ questions later homed in on the issue of race.

Union Denies Race Is Issue

Parks is LAPD’s second black chief and many of his supporters are African American. The union leadership is mostly white.

Holden said race “could very well be” behind the union’s objections to Parks. Grasso strongly denied such suggestions, saying that the union is working on behalf of black communities disproportionately affected by crime.

Grasso said the 8,300 ballots, in which officers will be asked if they have confidence in the chief’s leadership, will be returned in coming weeks.

*

Times staff writer Matea Gold contributed to this report.